The Framework

The Happiness Agenda will measure and impact people’s happiness through an iterative framework to discover, change, educate and measure people’s happiness.

OUR APPROACH

Our framework is built following a collaborative process to discover, imagine and plan for a future Dubai that prioritises happiness as a primary objective of Dubai’s ongoing smart transformation.

Led by the Smart Dubai Office, who is also overseeing Dubai’s citywide transformation to a smart city, the Happiness Agenda will benefit from access to innovative technology and a broad partnership network for a unified approach utilising the best tools at our disposal.

“His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has written an open letter to all Federal government employees reminding them of their core mission: providing world class services to the people of UAE with the goal of contributing to their happiness. His open letter is a testament to the strong commitment demonstrated by the UAE leadership towards making happiness a national policy goal.”-John Helliwell, World Happiness Report 2015

UAE is ranked 20th in the World Happiness Report for 2012 - 2014. According to the report, happiness in Dubai has increased by 2.5% since 2005. We are confident that we have the right mix of city leadership, partners and innovators to substantially increase and sustain happiness in Dubai. We will build on the legacy of our city’s leadership, who have continuously prioritised people’s happiness. We are already a benchmark city for happiness: with the Happiness Agenda, we will create a blueprint for our sister cities to follow.

Shared Understanding

Today, city leaders and decision makers act from an informal knowledge base with assumptions about what factors influence happiness in the city.

We will build a unified definition of happiness, beginning with a scientifically aligned cultural baseline and understanding of basic and higher needs in Dubai. This formally defined, shared understanding, will become a guide for strategic activities in Dubai to prioritise happiness.

Without a shared understanding of happiness factors in the city today, neither the private nor the public sector are able to fully consider the impact on happiness from city planning and customer experiences. Building on a culturally relevant scientific model, we will define and promote new policies and approaches to focus the city and its people on happiness.

“The most important job for a city is to ensure the happiness of its residents and visitors”

Both city leaders and individuals can benefit from a deeper understanding of personal happiness factors and how to control them. To achieve a deep organisational and personal understanding of happiness factors across the city, the Happiness Agenda will put forward a collection of events, content and training programs to build awareness, teach self-reflection and influence the city. Happiness is a choice. We are helping our city make the choice to lead a happier life.

Supported by a multidisciplinary partnership network and influential thought leaders, we are helping to create a cultural shift to happiness for the city.

“Big data insights do directly benefit people’s happiness.”

The Happiness Agenda will pursue an objective, scientific approach to influencing happiness for the whole city. With a dedicated focus to measuring people’s happiness, our teams are continually researching and refining a scientific model for city happiness that is informed by city data. We are developing a live, target-driven measurement tool to monitor satisfaction and happiness levels for the the whole city.

Big data insights are not limited to the technology sector. By implementing customer satisfaction and sentiment analysis tools for the whole city, the Happiness Agenda will empower decision makers to act for people’ happiness in real-time, supported by data.